GUWAHAT: Assam government has launched the “Engagement and Coordination Arrangement (ECA)” between National Health Mission (NHM) Assam and The United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The Engagement and Coordination Arrangement (ECA) was exchanged by JVN Subramanyam, MD-NHM, Assam and Mark A White, Mission Director-USAID, India.
The identified priority activities include;
- Technical assistance for piloting and intervention for improved maternal, neonatal and tuberculosis and nutrition outcomes
- Technical support for Health and Wellness Centres to pilot and scale up HWCs in the state of Assam
- Health systems strengthening and public financial management assistance in the area of Public Financial Management.
According to the ECA, the first intervention will be carried out in five upper Assam districts of Dibrugrah, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar and Tinsukia. Since the above mentioned districts have large number of tea gardens and interventions is needed to address the health issues like nutrition, maternal health and neonatal issues.
Since the Non Communicable Disease (NCDs) are increasingly contributing to the higher disease burden and to address them the concept of Health and Wellness Centre (HWCs) was started to provide comprehensive primary care including prevention. The scope is to assist NHM-Assam in strengthening the capacity of the HWCs across the State, including developing suitable “smart” HWCs in urban area.
The public financial management system will also get technical assistance under the activity to improve the state health system including design and implementation support for financial management software by NHM, Assam.
The implementing partners of USAID includes: SAATHII, Jhpiego, WISH Foundation, Digital Green, CINI and IPE Global.
NHM –Assam and USAID intend to jointly design and implement the mentioned activities, focusing on two immediate results i.e. increased quality of services and improved health behavior.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civil foreign aid and development assistance. USAID works in over 100 countries to; Promote Global Health, Support Global Stability, Provide Humanitarian Assistance, Catalyze Innovation and Partnership and Empower Women and Girls.